A Lifetime Ago
by Shurokami
Summary: One day, Kagome receives a letter while studying for her latest test. She could have never known who sent it and why. This is a story of heartbreak, and redemption. Slightly A/U


Kagome quietly sat in the living room, math textbook in hand as she tried to work out her assigned homework. A sigh of frustration left her as her bright brown eyes scanned the text, looking for some clue to answering the question. If she didn't finish by sundown she would never get this assignment done, and she would suffer yet another zero. She should have asked Inuyasha for one more day at home…

A knock sounded by the front door. She knew no one else was home- Mama, Jii-chan and Souta had gone to Kyoto for a festival for the week; all that had greeted her when she came home was note explaining such. They wouldn't be back for another couple of days. Curious, and obviously needing a break, the young girl stood up and stretched before heading to the door. She opened it to find no one there. The wind blew the leaves on the Goshinboku as soft chirps could be heard from the birds. Down the street she could hear kids laughing. "Stupid kids. Probably playing some stupid game… and right when I need to study too." She muttered to herself before turning around. Just before shutting the door, something white caught the young miko's eye on the floor. She peered down to find a single white envelope placed neatly on the mat. No return address or postage had been placed on the envelope, only a single name:

Higurashi Kagome

Someone left _her_ an envelope? Just here on the doorstep? Why didn't they just mail it? Kagome quickly looked around, hoping to catch sight of whoever left the letter. When she could see no one, the young girl peered down at the writing. It was vaguely familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She turned the envelope over and opened it to pull out the letter. There wasn't much written on the piece of paper itself, just one sentence that left her wide eyed and gave her goosebumps:

 **Go back now, don't wait for him.**

Shivers ran down Kagome's spine as little hairs stood on end on her arms; whoever wrote this knew about the well. It was obvious they had no ill will towards her, this seemed to be more of a warning. Without giving it much thought, Kagome scrambled up to her room to gather her supplies, piling her first aid kit, clothes and her sleeping bag into her bog yellow bag, strapped it on to her back, and ran for the well. The girl didn't even stop to close her textbook.

Up high in the Goshinboku well out of sight, golden eyes watched her leave.

* * *

Kagome huffed as she slowly made her way up the ladder inside the well. Inuyasha had of course protested her return, turning their discussion into a shouting match. It had ended with him in a crater the size of Kaede's hut, and with her taking the fire-cat Kirara to the well.

"I mean, I ran out of clothes! How did he expect me to _not_ want to come back after-" the young miko's rant came to a halt when she bumped into someone. Looking up just as the person – he – turned around, his eyes wide as his mouth hung slightly open. Obsidian hair was left messy and unkempt on top of his head as violet eyes stared back at her. His face was long, his eyes hardened with a perpetual sadness. Gone were his hakama and haori - he wore a simple white cotton T-shirt and jeans in their stead. Tetsusaiga was also nowhere to be found. Kagome gasped, staring at this older, but familiar, face. It was impossible… she had just left him on the other side of the well in a crater, how could he be here and modernized? This surely couldn't be Inuyasha! The man smirked as his eyes softened upon her recognition of him.

"Keh. 500 years and I don't even get a hello, wench?" Kagome just continued to gape, at a loss for words. Worried, Inuyasha suddenly grabbed her shoulders and shook lightly. "Kagome? Oi, wench, you look like you've seen a ghost! Kagome?" There was only one thing that came to mind, only one thing that could prove beyond reasonable doubt that she wasn't imagining _Inuyasha_ – her Inuyasha – here, older, and looking so…so…her eyes widened as she realized what reflected through- this version of her hanyou was a man broken.

"Osuwari." The spell activated without a hitch, plummeting Inuyasha into the ground. The girl kneeled down beside the young man currently attached to the ground. Inuyasha lifted his head as soon as he was able to, a very familiar scowl on his face. His eyes, however, didn't match his irritated expression.

"What the _hell_ was that for? I didn't _do_ anything!" Kagome smiled apprehensively as she patted his head.

"I had to know it was really you, baka." A thought occurred to the miko as worry began to cloud her normally content features. He smile disappeared into a frown as her eyebrows turned upwards. Her bright brown eyes looked at him with the worry she felt within her soul. "Why are you here, Inuyasha? You could be messing with time just by being here, stupid!" _Why do you look like your heart's been broken every time you look me in the eye?_

Inuyasha stood up on dusted himself off. "I know I'm messing with the timeline by being here. Keh. That's _why_ I'm here. If you had been here last week…" The boy shuddered at the thought. "I waited five hundred years to make sure you were safe, Kagome. Even if it meant saving you would destroy the planet, the only thing that kept pushing me forward was knowing I had a chance to save you." Chocolate eyes widened as Kagome's hair tousled itself in the wind.

"Wh-what do you mean? What happened?" It was only then that Kagome took the chance to look around the shrine. Police tape was strewn around each door of her house. Broken glass hung from each of the windows and spray paint clung to the outer walls. It looked like someone had tried to set the house on fire as well; some of the siding appeared to be charred and melted in areas. Solemn eyes followed the young miko's gaze.

"Radicalists. Had you not heeded my note, you would have been home when it happened." Kagome turned to look at him, understanding dawning on her as she met his violet gaze. Painful memories swirled in his mind, and he knew this time he couldn't push them down. She needed this explanation. "I hadn't known what was going on. I came a little bit later, trying to give you as much time as possible because I figured you'd like it – had I known what was going to happen I would have dragged you kicking and screaming back through the well that morning. When I got there the first thing I noticed was the only thing I could smell was suffocating me, it sent me into a panic; your blood. I thought maybe you had just gotten a bad cut, but it was just so damned overpowering, like it was _everywhere._ " Kagome gasped. "There were ambulances and police all over the place, but all I could see was your blood. It literally was everywhere." Tears gathered in his eyes at the memory.

" _Kagome!" Frantic golden eyes searched everywhere, scanning the masses for the young maiden. He didn't care that he wasn't following Mrs. Higurashi's rules right now – he was too concerned to try to find a hat for his ears. No one would see them anyways; his ears were pinned too far back with worry. The house looked like a mess; graffiti everywhere, smoke, small fires, and melted siding. The glass on the windows was gone. What had happened here?_

" _Inuyasha?" Mrs. Higurashi came rushing towards the boy, worry etched in her eyebrows at seeing her daughter's hanyou alone. The hanyou acknowledged her, taking note in the spike of fear in her scent – but he knew it wasn't because of what he was. She looked tired, as if she had travelled for most of the night. Behind her, Kagome's kid brother and her grandfather wept. "The police say there was an attack on the shrine. They found blood… lots of blood, but no body. Inuyasha, where is Kagome?" Inuyasha's grim look was all Mrs. Higurashi needed to confirm her fears. Tears welled in her eyes as she pointed towards the busy street opposite to the well. No words were needed as the boy nodded and sprang off into the city, intent on tracking down wherever Kagome got to, praying she was safe._

"I found you 10 kilometers from your house, on the side of the road. It looked like whoever it was that had taken you didn't think you were worth the effort to keep alive. Shit, Kagome, all I could smell was blood and tears and death. I used to think your world was a much safer place than the feudal era. I would let you go back knowing that while you were here, no harm could come to you. If I had known… if I had known you had worse monsters in your era than the demons that walked in mine I would have sealed the well when you first woke me." Kagome found herself on the ground by the end of Inuyasha's explanation; her legs had given out long ago. Tears fell for her hanyou, who had suffered so much from this experience.

"Inuyasha…you… you've waited all this time?"

"Keh. What other choice was there? I promised to protect you with my life, Kagome. Because I wasn't there you never had the opportunity to grow up, mate, have pups, grow old..." _You never had the chance to grow old with me._ Violet hues melted into molten amber as Inuyasha gazed at the woman he loved and ultimately lost. Kagome gasped as she watched his eyes change and warm. She felt herself flush, unfamiliar with the feelings molding themselves in her belly. His hand came up to cup her cheek, and in a brief moment, Inuyasha descended down on Kagome, his lips meeting hers in a bittersweet kiss. Her eyes immediately shut as the rush of feelings overwhelmed the young miko.

Inuyasha kept his eyes open, burning her face to his memory in this last moment he had with her.

When they parted, Kagome looked up at him with watery brown eyes, complete with light blush and a smile that could melt even the thickest of ice. He smiled in kind, tears brimming in his own eyes.

"I love you, Kagome Higurashi. I always have, even when it felt like I didn't." He pulled her into one last hug, being sure not to squeeze her to death. "You have to go back down the well, for good this time. Be patient with my youthful self; he's fragile and still working through Kikyo's death. I promise you, when the time comes and he's finally stopped being a baka he will love you until the ends of the earth, much like you love him. But you _can't come back._ Your death is already written in the future, but not in the past. Your mother will know, but that's it. As soon as you jump down that well for the last time, time itself will be rewritten. No one will remember this, and even my memories will be exchanged for new ones… hopefully with you in them, alive." Kagome understood. By changing his past, Inuyasha ultimately changed his and Kagome's future. The next time she went through the well to the future it would be one she didn't recognize, but she was safe in the past. With a nod and a squeeze from the young girl the modernized hanyou released the time traveller, and she turned to leave back to the past, this time for good.

Once she was out of sight a ghostly figure appeared next to the young man. She smiled at him softly, "Your wish will be granted momentarily, hanyou. I have already granted you this extra time with the girl. Any longer and the paradox will collapse. Are you sure you want to give everything up for her safety? The mate you know, your job, your memories? Is she so precious to you?"

The hanyou nodded. He knew if he had divulged the full truth to Kagome she would have never accepted to return. He loved his mate, a human from Kaede's village he had met some generations later, but she could never compare to Kagome. He and Kirei had already lived a wonderful 350 years together, never having children because she knew this moment would come. This was his trade off – the life he knew for Kagome. Slowly, Inuyasha reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny pink luminescent orb and began to play with it in his hands before turning back to the ghostly miko. She held cold, hard eyes and wore the armour of an ancient battle miko. There was no way he could deny who stood at his side.

"Yes, she's worth a thousand lifetimes." Midoriko nodded and with that, Inuyasha's world went black. The last thing he heard as a smile spread on his lips were three words:

"It is done."

* * *

"Oi, wench, quit your pacing, its giving me a headache!" Kagome hesitated in her pacing for a brief moment to shoot her husband a glare.

"Oh hush, Inuyasha. Today is the day!" Quietly, Kagome slipped an envelope from her purse into the hanyou's hands. "Now go before someone sees you! And remember to ring the doorbell!" The man before her grunted before slipping off his wedding band, allowing his now short shaggy hair to melt from his disguises obsidian to silver. Gold quickly pushed violet away from his pupils, and tiny dog-like ears emerged as human ears disappeared. Kagome herself gave a squeal before the man took off using his hanyou strength to deliver the letter to her younger self. It would be this game she and Inuyasha would play, forever caught in a time lapse. She saw her husband ring the doorbell and immediately take off into the Goshinboku. She watched as young Kagome Higurashi picked up the envelope and read it, ran inside, and moments later re-emerged at a break-neck pace to the well. She smiled to herself as her hanyou returned in his human form, and gave him a quick kiss.

This time next week, she would finally get to see her mama for the first time in 500 years.

* * *

A/N: A (kind of) short one-shot. I don't know where the inspiration came from, and I know its choppy at best, but meh. it is done.


End file.
